Welcome to our blog for Intellectual Property Law and Practice in Latin America!
¡Bienvenidos a nuestro blog de Derecho y Práctica de la Propiedad Intelectual en Latinoamérica!
Bem-vindo ao nosso blog sobre Direito e Prática de Propriedade Intelectual na América Latina!

Monday, 7 January 2013

Patricia Covarrubia

The Madrid Protocol in Latin America: Is Colombia changing business strategies or acting as a guinea pig?

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The most recent issue of the European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR) i.e. January, 2013 Vol 35 No 1, brings us an article which aims to “analyse the consequences of Colombia’s accession to the Madrid Protocol, a system which grants an international trade mark with the filing of one application only: the central question is whether Colombia’s accession will produce a “snowball effect” in Latin America.”

In fact, the question appears to be already answered since Mexico, as previously reported here, is now also part of this protocol.

The article's title is the heading of this post and is written by Andres Echeverri Uribe, Organizacion Corona, Bogota, and I.  While the article embarks on studying the advantages and disadvantages of accession for the Colombia’s market in an era of globalization, it also explores the reality of its own small and medium enterprises (SMEs) when trade mark is at issue.

The article can be accessed through Westlaw or Lawtel.
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Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb)

IMPI estrena el 2013 con nuevo Director General


El Secretario de Economía, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, por instrucciones del Presidente de la República, Enrique Peña Nieto, dio posesión a Miguel Ángel Margáin González, como nuevo Director General del Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI).

Miguel Ángel Margáin, es Licenciado en Derecho por la UP y realizó sus estudios de Maestría en Derecho en la Universidad de Cambridge, antes de su nombreamiento fue socio del despacho Arochi, Marroquín & Lindner.

Ha sido miembro de numerosas asociaciones relacionadas con la Propiedad Industrial e Intelectual, entre ellas la Asociación Mexicana para la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (AMPPI) de la que fue presidente; la Barra Mexicana Colegio de Abogados; la Asociación Internacional de Marcas (INTA); la Asociación Interamericana de la Propiedad Intelectual (ASIPI); la European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA); la Asociación Internacional para la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (AIPPI), además de Vicepresidente y vocero del Comité de Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual de la American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham, por sus siglas en inglés).

Desde IP Tango le deseamos la mejor de las suertes a @mikemargain y al @IMPI_Mexico en sus objetivos de promover la protección y defensa de la Propiedad Intelectual.
 
Fuente: IMPI

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Friday, 4 January 2013

Jeremy

Turrialba: a first for Costa Rica

According to the January 2013 issue of the INTA Bulletin, Costa Rica has secured its first appellation of origin protection. The object of this protections is the designation "Turrialba" for cheese. This landmark took some years to achieve, since the application process was apparently commenced as long ago as February 2008.

Turrialba is a soft white cheese which has been produced in its volcanic environment since at least 1870
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Thursday, 27 December 2012

Jeremy

Central America's trade pact with the EU: another whopper

On Monday, this blog reported on the publication, on the website of the European Union's Official Journal, of the EU's trade agreement with Peru and Colombia. The post commented on its vast length at 2,605 pages. Well, that massive pagination has already been exceeded. The EU's Official has now also published the full text of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America on the other -- and that's 2,618 pages long, not counting a further two and a half page Protocol on Cultural Cooperation.  Again, it contains plenty of references to intellectual property rights and geographical indications.

What country is "Central America", you may be wondering. Well, it is defined for the purposes of the Agreement as the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- but not Belize -- and naturally not Mexico since that country migrated from Central America to North America, but that's another story.
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Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Jeremy

Trade marks and due diligence in Brazil: a new article

The most recent issue of the Trademark Reporter (that's November-December, 2012 Vol. 102 No. 6), published by the International Trademark Associaton (INTA) for its members, contains an article of great relevance to one of Latin America's most active and vibrant economies. "Trademarks and Due Diligence for Mergers and Acquisitions in Brazil", by Paula Mena Barreto Pinheiro, addresses the most important issues involved in due diligence specifically involving trade marks, as well as certain country-specific considerations that should be taken into account whenever acquiring or merging with a company in Brazil. Given the amount of corporate and transactional activity that can be expected in Brazil in the run-up to the major international sporting events Brazil is hosting in the next few years, this article may be subjected to a good deal of attention.
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Monday, 24 December 2012

Jeremy

A great stocking filler: the EU/Colombia/Peru Trade Agreement

If you are desperately looking for some reading material this Christmas, look no further than the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part, the text of which has just been posted on the website of the Official Journal of the European Union. Inclusive of Annexes and declarations, it's a mere 2,605 pages long.

The term "intellectual property" appears 45 times, but that's not as many times as "geographic indications", which are mentioned 65 times.  In contrast, "patent" gets 19 plugs and "copyright" just 17.

Enjoy!
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Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Patricia Covarrubia

President of Brazil visits France with GI in hand

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The Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) reports the official visit to France of Mrs Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil. The Brazilian President handed to her French counterpart, President François Hollande, the Certificate of Designation of Origin (DO) for sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region.

The document was issued the 11th of December by INPI’s President, Jorge Ávila. It is said that the certificate was the result of 5 years co-operation between INPI France and INPI Brazil as well as the Committee Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC). The French President said that this recognition 'was an honour for the French ' and acknowledged Brazil’s improvement in relation to the protection of geographical indication (GI).

Moreover, the director of INPI France encouraged French producers to obtain legal protection of their GI in Brazil stating that the two offices are “highly engaged in the development of cooperation between the two countries to boost growth and mutual respect of interests”. On the other hand, INPI’s Brazil president said that the Brazilian cultural diversity has “immense potential of geographical indications and designations of origin. We have worked hard to spread among domestic producers to use this system as a national economic asset”.

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Monday, 17 December 2012

Patricia Covarrubia

Accusing your co-author of plagiarism: have you heard of it?

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From Mexico comes the news that an electoral counselor, Blanca Castaneyra Chavez accused her coauthor, Dominguez Gudini, of plagiarizing an article that they wrote together and was published in the magazine ‘Diurna’. The article, entitled ‘The socioeconomic factor at the top of campaigns: cheaper elections’ published in a magazine which is edited by the Consejo General del Instituto Electoral Veracruzano (IEV) (General Council Electoral Institute of Veracruz), was used by Dominguez Gudini to be published in a compendium of electoral law procedure of the Ministry of Interior.

Mr Dominguez has apologized and explained the following: I was “invited by the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a publication ... in no time I claim that experience like mine, it's like someone writing on constitutional law and says he wrote the constitution. As a matter of a personal nature I do not like to quote myself”.

For the compendium the title was changed to: ‘Governor’s funding and control of campaigns, the Veracruz experience’. The text was attributed to only Mr Dominguez.

Castaneyra Chavez lamented the fact and said she will proceed legally against Mr Dominguez. She explains that the material which was published in the magazine Diurna was owned by IEV and that Mr Dominguez should have cited the source of the text used and should have given credit to the co-author.

Well, I guess this is not the first time this type of issue happens – not that they are normal! What captures my attention is Mr Dominguez statement that he does not like to quote himself…what about given the credit to his co-author then? The info comes from the newspaper ‘El Universal’ and so, there is not much detail of the grounds of the to-be case. We could speculate that it will be IEV the one that brings the proceedings, as the owner of the publication; and the author could bring also proceeding but in that case would be under moral rights ie paternity rights.
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Monday, 10 December 2012

Rodrigo Ramirez Herrera @ramahr

Cantinflas y los derechos de autor de sus películas

El Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Ciudad de México determinó que Eduardo Moreno Laparade, sobrino de Cantinflas, es el "único y legítimo" propietario de los derechos de 39 filmes del legendario actor cómico mexicano, según comenta la prensa.

El fallo resuelve un pleito de 19 años por los derechos de las películas de Mario Moreno, "Cantinflas" que tuvo como partes enfrentadas al sobrino del actor, Moreno Laparade, y al hijo adoptivo del cómico, Mario Moreno Ivanova.

El fallo fue dictado por la Primera Sala Familiar del Tribunal Superior de Justicia, integrado por las magistradas Adriana Canales Pérez y Cleotilde Susana Schettino Pim, por el cual condena a Mario Moreno Ivanova (hijo adoptivo de "Cantinflas") a "no molestar en esos derechos a Moreno Laparade".

De acuerdo con el fallo Moreno Laparade tiene libre disponibilidad de las liquidaciones de las regalías (royalties) que tiene consignadas Columbia Pictures Industries ante el juzgado federal en Los Angeles, California, a partir del 4 de marzo de 1993, así como las regalías que se sigan generando bajo la vigencia del derecho de autor. 

El Tribunal además condenó a los codemandados Mario Moreno Ivanova y sucesión de Mario Moreno Reyes, al pago de los daños y prejuicios reclamados, que deberán cuantificarse en la fase de ejecución de la sentencia así como los costas del proceso judicial.

Entre las películas en disputa se encuentran los derechos sobre  "No te engañes", "Corazón", "Ahí está el detalle", "El bombero atómico", "El bolero de Raquel", "Por mis pistolas" y "El profe".

En agosto del 2011, en la conmemoración de los 100 años del nacimiento del cómico Cantinflas, reflotaron los conflictos entre Mario Moreno Ivanova y Eduardo Moreno Laparade, su hijo adoptivo y su sobrino, respectivamente. La disputa tomó 19 años en los tribunales por los derechos de 39 largometrajes, de los 47 en los que trabajó el artista de fama internacional.

"Cantinflas", fue ganador del Globo de Oro al mejor actor en 1957 por "La vuelta al mundo en 80 días", de Michael Anderson, y falleció el 20 de abril de 1993 debido a un cáncer pulmonar. Ese mismo año inició el pleito legal.

Moreno Ivanova sostuvo que es hijo natural, pero fuera del matrimonio, y es el heredero universal de la fortuna de su padre, calculada en al menos cien millones de dólares.

Pero Moreno Laparade por su parte sostuvo que el 4 de marzo de 1993, en Houston, Texas, ante la presencia de la notaria público Melvy Azucena Reyna, "mi tío (Cantinflas) en un documento denominado Agreement me transfirió todos los derechos, títulos e intereses de esas 39 películas".

Aclaró que esos filmes "como me los cedió mi tío antes de morir, ya no eran parte de la masa hereditaria".

Fuentes: EMOL y notimex
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Friday, 30 November 2012

Patricia Covarrubia

Time for a coffee? Don’t forget the biscuits

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Another news from Brazil, and in the same line as two days ago, the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) granted a Geographical Indication (GI) in the form of indication of source (Indicação de Procedência) to ‘biscoitos de São Tiago’.

The traditional biscuits are from the Region Campo das Vertentes in Minas Gerais and this application was made on August 23, 2011 (posted here). Request was made by the Associação São-Tiaguense (formed by 23 members) and aided by the Centre for Technological Innovation (NIT) from the Federal University of São João del Rei (UFSJ) and supported by the Foundation for Research and Support of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG). The city became known for its biscuits that were offered to visitors on hostels farms and it is nowadays recognized as 'A Terra do Café com Biscoito' -- the tradition has extended and the city always holds a ‘Coffee with Biscuit Party’ early September receiving more that 50,000 visitors.

The applicants now have 60 days to pay the fee and a certificate will be issued, finishing the registration process.
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